according to an article on defensenews.com, the f-35 join program office (jpo) has announced that the power plant on the fighter jet will be “refreshed” in the next decade, either through improvements to the current pratt & whitney f135 design or by implementing an engine from a competitor.

(wikimedia commons)

the announcement was made by lt. general chris bogdan, who is head of the jpo, at the air force association conference.

the article added that the air force is currently in the early stages of the adaptive engine transition program (aetp) that pratt & whitney and general electric aviation are taking part in. “the goal of aetp is to see if the companies can successfully add a third stream of air inside the engine,” said aaron mehta, who wrote the article for defensenews.

in a statement, the air force stated the program’s goal of demonstrating 25 percent improvement in fuel efficiency, 10 percent improvement in thrust, and “significant” improvement in thermal management.

read the full article at http://www.defensenews.com/articles/new-engines-for-f-35-mid-2020s-likely-says-bogdan.